The Daily Independent

New commenting section…

dailyindependent — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:58:25 +0000

Hello folks,

Just a note to encourage everyone to start posting comments on stories on our newly redesigned Web site, www.ridgecrestca.com. We’ll be phasing this blog out over the next few weeks in order to better integrate with our new site, but we want everyone to feel free to visit and start some conversation over there.

Thanks so much for your interest.

–Nathan Ahle, Managing Editor

Why do you live here?

dailyindependent — Wed, 28 May 2008 23:16:45 +0000

It’s always interesting to here why people live in Ridgecrest or Trona and don’t forget Inyokern. I personally was brought here at 5 and was raised here I enjoy the familiarity of it. I personally enjoy our little wal-mart. The bowling alley, and restaurants. Our town looks nice already to me; no graffitti, not very trashy there isn’t a whole lot of chain link fence like bigger cities which makes it look like a big jail. I really don’t like big cities. I am super social I have performed on stage at concerts I am not anti-social anti populas. I just like ridgecrest. Like many of you I am not stuck here i could probably make more in a big city, and maybe one day i will but for now I am here and while i’m here i am trying to have a positive influence on my friends and family and the community in general. There is change happening some for better some for worse but overall the city seems to be the same safe beautiful place to live. Don’t believe me check the police logs for shootings or burgularies, armed robberies. Theres always gonna be bored kids doing petty crime thats always gonna be the case in any town. Change is good I feel sorry for those of you who think only certain people should be allowed here but everyone has a place in building a great society, there is no place on earth where people who look act and think just like you all live and thank god it is’nt ridgecrest .

BRAC!

dailyindependent — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:43:32 +0000

What was your response to Tuesday’s announcement that the Base Realignment and Closure business plan was finally signed, bringing over 1,000 jobs to China Lake?
What does this mean to the community? What do we need to do next?

Branding

dailyindependent — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 21:03:44 +0000

Ridgecrest recently held its annual Economic Outlook Conference. Marketing and tourism guru Robert Brooks said Ridgecrest must find a unique way to brand itself to encourage visitors in this “new age of economic development.”
“This is the age of the brand,” said Brooks. Approximately 97 percent of all tourism and economic advertising is ineffective because of its message. A strategy to promote tourism must focus on a City’s unique trait. “Something for everyone is not a brand,” said Brooks, who added “you must jettison the generic.”
“What do you have that no one else has in California?” asked Brooks. “…If I can take your slogan and apply it to any other community you need to get rid of it.”
So what is Ridgecrest’s niche/brand? The military? Desert? The gateway to Death Valley? Location is not a brand however, said Brooks. And marketing the outdoors is not an option. In fact, most cities and counties in the western U.S. use the outdoors as a promoting tool. For example, Inyo County’s generic slogan: “The adventure capitol of the world.”
What are your ideas???

Presidential election 2008

dailyindependent — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 18:09:50 +0000

California’s primary is under three weeks away. Both the Democratic
and Republican nominations remain far from determined and us
Californians will likely have a big influence in picking the next
president. It’s the most wide open race in several years and first
time since 1928 that neither an incumbent president nor incumbent vice
president is running. It’s also looks like it will be the first time
since 1972 that neither a Bush nor Dole appears on the Republican
ticket. And if Hillary Clinton gets elected we could have almost 30
years of Bushes and Clintons running the show in Washington. But are
you paying any attention to the presidential election? Why or why not?
Do you care who gets elected? If you are watching, who do you support
and why? Do you plan on voting in the Feb. 5 Super Tuesday Primary?

Your thoughts on Homeschooling?

dailyindependent — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 17:08:16 +0000

Spawned by a fiesty debate on the Ridgecrestca.com guestbook!

I have a lot of input on this, I had years of public school, years of private school and one year of homeschool (the school actually sent teachers into my home for some classes, and the other classes I completed by mail).

Here’s my experience: the most difficult, challenging and worthwile education, scholastically speaking, came from the private schools. Any time I transfered out of a private school to a public school I was at least 1 or 2 years ahead of the public curriculum. The classes were smaller, and the uniforms were HORRIBLE, but I would rather see a child in a horrible uniform than a miniskirt.

The human interaction and social skills needed for life come best from a public school. Kids learn to stand up for themselves in a public school, they learn about bullies, crushes, sharing, how to fit in with various groups and cliques. Kids learn personal defense skills.

Regarding home school: it was just too easy. I’d blast through a week of schoolwork in one or two hours and ace the test. Also, there is something important to a youngster about getting up in the morning, getting dressed and Going To School.

My questions, and I’m not knocking homeschool, just trying to fuel the debate:

How well will fully homeschooled kids function when they are 25? Will they know how to share? How to get up every day and get to work? How to handle a bully? How to Scrap if someone tries to mug them?

I volunteered with a coworker of mine years ago, assisting an art teacher who gave an art class after Sunday School for the homeschool kids. They were the most self centered group of kids I’d ever seen. That’s not to say that ALL homeschool students are that way, but they had no idea how to work with eachother, share art supplies, or tolerate another student having a different view of whatever subject they were painting or sculpting.

Finally, I have to say that it comes down to the parents to teach manners, 100%. Parents need to lead by example first, and enforce good manners at home.

Your thoughts?

Yahoo Hotjobs Coming Soon to www.ridgecrestca.com

dailyindependent — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 00:22:37 +0000

Technology changes how we live every day. Take for example how employers and job seekers connect these days; via the web. For quite a while The Daily Independent has offered our classified recruitment ads online at http://www.ridgecrestca.com Very soon you’ll see a whole new look for our employment ads and searchable database, powered by Yahoo, the worlds #1 search provider.

Yahoo Hotjobs serves over 9 million job searches a month. That’s more than all of the other big names (like Monster, Career Builder etc) COMBINED. This move will allow local businesses to present job openings to a world wide audience, not to mention a local audience and all those in between (say for example Pt. Mugu).

Yahoo Hotjobs offers many benefits to both the job seeker and the employer. Employers can list their positions in much more detail, and market the position based on Keywords, Industry, Region, Job Title, Experince and more. The job seeker can create a Search Agent, applying their own criteria such as wages, experience, position title etc. When a job is posted that fills the job seekers criteria, they are emailed automatically.

Hundreds of newspapers nationwide are partnering with Yahoo, to offer the most advance recruitment technology.

I expect to be launching the new section in about a month, give or take a few days for the usual “bugs”. If you’d like to see the technology for yourself firsthand, check out

http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/

We’re also expecting our redesign to be complete and ready within the next 90 days or so, which is even more exciting! So check out the new technology, and have a great weekend everyone!

The Boys and Girls Club Needs Your Help

dailyindependent — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 17:46:50 +0000

Ridgecrest;

The Southern Sierra Boys and Girls Club needs your help to keep it’s programs running. You might get a phone call from one of the kids (or myself) in the evening, calling asking for a donation. 100% of any donation will stay local, helping keep the local youth off of the streets and safe in the evenings. The Club programs include tutoring and homework help, camps during summer and winter and lots more. If you’ve never been in the Club, stop in and see the great work they’re doing. The Boys and Girls club is a non-profit organization. When you make a donation, you will get a reciept with a EIN # for your taxes, it is tax deductible!

Please help the Southern Sierra Boys and Girls Club. We need programs to keep the kids off the street. You will see lots of publicity over the next few weeks, asking for your support. Please help the club.

$.0075 Sales Tax Hike for Roads?

dailyindependent — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 00:48:49 +0000

Would you vote for a $.0075 sales tax hike for Street Repair? I will be voting NO on this one. Firstly, call it what it really is, a one cent increase. After all, it will be rounded up. Secondly, Taxes don’t ever seem to go DOWN. So to say that in 10 years we won’t pay that tax anymore is nonsense. 8 years from now we’ll find another place for that tax, and just keep paying it.

I agree the roads need work. But having just got THUMPED with a property tax bill of $2000 IN ADDITION to what we all ready pay…. I’m a bit resentful of RC taking any more of my money.

East Coast vs West Coast, the little things.

dailyindependent — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 17:36:34 +0000

Recently on a trip home I had a chance to really observe and think about the differences between East Coast life and West Coast life. Some of this applies to all of the East Coast, and some of it is for Buffalo only, but I thought I’d mention it.

Back home I:
Eat “Chicken Wings” not Buffalo Wings (and by the way, that orange sticky stuff you’ve eaten at Denny’s or whatever, is NOT Buffalo Sauce)
Call Streets and Roads “The”: The 90, The Blvd, The Scajacweida, imagine calling it “The China Lake blvd”
Particularily in Buffalo, you know the name and location of many Native American locations: Tonawanda, Scajacweida, Oneonta, Niagara, Cattaraugaus, Chataqua.
Give directions by description, not co-ordinates.
Eat Beef On Wecke (pronounced Wick)
Drink Labatts beer
Drink Vernors ginger ale
Drink Loganberry juice
Wear closed shoes almost all year round.
Keep a Shovel, Ice Scraper and gloves in your car.
Use the Heater in the Car in October
Use a car as a vehicle, not a status symbol
Play cardgames like Pinnochle and Euchre.

On the West Coast I:
Wear Sandals almost every day.
Sometimes keep water in my car.
Know locations by Mexican names, La Jolla, Mission Viejo, Cajon Pass
Give directions by street co-ordinates “It’s at Trop and the Strip”
Use A/C in the Car in October
Play Poker

Well, that’s my list of “little things”. There are a lot of really BIG things, like the weather! I thought it would be cute to publish it.

Thanks for Reading,
Missy.